SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — On Thursday, the Lackawanna County Commissioners announced a first-of-its-kind initiative for their troubled Office of Youth and Family Services (OYFS.)

The office has been operating under a provisional license since May 2023 and has faced over a year of staffing shortages, legal trouble, and an overwhelming amount of cases.

On Wednesday afternoon, Lackawanna County Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Matt McGloin announced that the county will not seek state certification for its Department of Health.

Instead, they will redirect that agency’s resources, including staff and funding, to the county Department of Human Services, focusing on the OYFS.

“We are not moving forward with the Department of Health, quite frankly because it’s too expensive,” Commissioner Gaughan said.

The County Department of Health was created during COVID-19.

Millions of county and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds went toward buying and renovating the health department building, under an assumption that the state government would reimburse the county for 80% of its operating costs, this however was not the case and would leave taxpayers to open their pockets.

“We have children and families in need in Lackawanna County so we just wanna redirect our efforts there, instead of the Department of Health where the budget was just too large to sustain,” Commissioner Gaughan added.

This redirection will go toward a new program, Family First Community Pathways, the first of its kind in the state, focusing on prevention rather than reaction.

“Last year we had over four thousand general protective service cases, referrals come through the door in our office of youth and family services, a majority of those do not need to be in the child welfare system,” Commissioner Gaughan stated.

Gaughan says the new plan aims to lighten the caseload by partnering with community organizations.

“They need to be redirected to mental health resources, to parenting resources things like that,” said Commissioner Gaughan.

He says this will improve morale and staffing, which has been in bad shape for months.

The office currently has 30 vacant caseworker positions and a backlog of 700 cases.

A state consultant has helped bring in five new full-time caseworkers.

The plan is currently pending state approval.

Those currently employed by the county’s Department of Health will have the option to seek employment opportunities in other parts of the county and will be paid through the end of the current pay period, and their healthcare will remain in effect through the end of the month.

The commissioners are also working on getting state approval for overtime for caseworkers, in order to cut down on the backlog of cases.

Again, the new plan is pending state approval at this time.